Voltron: Elite Defenders
by Crystal gem recruits
Summary: A human male is taken to the castle of lions after he's defeated while trying to protect the Blue lion from the Galra. But is he completely human? Let's see how the team reacts to finding him there when they first arrive...
1. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

 _Fighting. That's all I remember...I'm not sure who or what it was that attacked me. All I know is that I was scared for my life. But just when I thought my end was coming, something saved me. An angel? I couldn't quite make it out, my vision was severely blurred and was slowly coming back into focus. The being shot out a beam of light, vanquishing the looming beast that previously had persued me. I strained in attempt to stand only to find myself unable to; I was too beaten. Whoever or whatever saved me came closer to my battered body, and I suddenly felt as if I was being lifted off the ground. Before passing out, I watched as I was brought closer and closer to a bright light._


	2. Chapter 1: Castle of lions

**Chapter 1: The Castle of lions**

While getting chased by a giant alien ship, four teens, Lance, Kieth, Hunk, and Pidge, alongside a alien abductee, Shiro, find themselves at the edge of the solar system in a Blue Lion ship.

"Where are we?" Asked Keith looking around at the Galaxy.

"Edge of the solar system. There's Kerberos." Shiro pointed out Pluto's moon as they passed by.

"It takes months for our ships to get out this far, we got out here in five seconds." Pidge gaped in awe as she adjusted her glasses.

There was a sudden flash of light and a wormhole appeared in front of the ship, Lance could feel the lion tell him something.

The heavyset teen known as Hunk blinked in disbelief, "What is that?"

"Uh, this may seem crazy, but I think the lion wants us to go through there!"

"Where does it go?" Pudge looked to Lance for an answer, the Cuban teen only shrugged.

"I-I don't know. Shiro, you're the senior officer here. What should we do?"

"Whatever is happening, the lion knows more than we do. I say we trust it, but we're a team now. We should decide together."

Lance sighed, "All right, guess we're all ditching class tomorrow."

In an instant, the Lion zipped into the wormhole and shot through it like a bullet while leaving the enemy ship behind, the crew screamed as it made its way to the end. Moments later the ship was spat out into a seemingly different part of the universe.

Lance wiped the sweat from his brow as he and the rest of the crew caught their breath, "Whoa...that was..." His voice trailed off, Hunk, being prone to motion sickness, turned around and threw up his lunch. "So sorry...!"

Pidge steadied herself, "I'm just surprised it took this long."

Shiro's eyes studied the new starlit terrain inquisitively, "I don't recognize any of these constellations...we must be a long, long way from Earth."

"The lion seems to want to go to this planet...I think... I think it's going home." Everyone braced themselves as they headed for a planet that resembled earth and entered the atmosphere. The steep angle of the ship pushed everyone into Lance's seat, the teen furrowed his brow, "Guys, personal space! Hunk, your breath is killing me!"

Hunk scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, "Um, is it just me or is anyone else having second thoughts about flying through that mysterious wormhole? Why are we even listening to a robotic lion anyway?"

"It got us away from that alien warship, didn't it?"

Keith rolled his eyes, "I don't know if you noticed, but we're _in_ an alien warship."

Lance chuckled, "Oh, is the washout scared?"

"With an egotistical, amateur cargo pilot like you at the helm? Terrified."

Shiro broke up the argument before it got too out of hand, "All right, knock it off! No one's happy to be in this situation, but we're here now. If we want to get through this, we've got to do it together."

"So, what do we do?" Pidge asked.

"First, we find out where we're headed. Lance?"

Lance frowned, "I.. don't know...I'm sorry. The lion's not talking to me anymore...Wait! Wait, wait, wait! Shh! Listen...I think I hear something." He smirked as he slowly began to pass gas.

"I'm hearing it, too..."

Hunk could hear it too, "It's, uh - It's kind of a - a high-pitched squeal?"

The crew didn't know what it was until they heard the raspberry, they all groaned and held their noses.

"For fucks sake, Lance!" Kieth slugged the Cuban teen in the shoulder.

Lance laughed as he straightened out the lion, "But seriously, there's a castle up ahead."

The crew gaped in amazement when they saw a long white bridge that led to a giant castle that was built into a mountain.

"Wow..."

Shiro was skeptical of the location and narrowed his eyes, "Keep your guard up."

The youngest teen tilted her head, "Something wrong?"

"My crew was captured by aliens once. I'm not going to let it happen again." He replied as the ship landed in front of a door with a large stylistic _V_ on it. The group exited the lion's mouth and stared at the door.

They all jumped in surprise when the Blue ship stood up straight and began to rear its head back.

Hunk gasped and hid behind Shiro, "No, no! I knew it was going to eat us! No!"

The mechanical beast then let out a loud roar, this triggered the door and it opened noisily.

The obese teen peeked out from behind Shiro's shoulder and whimpered, "Oh, the door is open. Guess I was wrong about you." The team entered a dark and empty room, Hunk called out with an echoing voice, "Hello?" He shrugged when there was no reply.

"From the size of the lion, I expected these steps to be bigger."

"Hold for identity scan." Came a female computer voice, a laser decended from the ceiling and swept over the group.

Pidge was startled, "What?"

"Why are we here? What do you want with us?" Shiro demanded the computer, but had no answer.

At that moment, lights began to turn on and soon a hallway was illuminated.

The short haired girl shrugged, "I guess we're going that way."

"Hello?" Hunk's voice continued to reverberate off the tall walls of the massive building as they continued down the hall and down a staircase. The newly formed team soon found themselves in a large circular room with a alien computer in the center of it.

Lance peered around at the room, "Where are we?"

Pidge bent down to get a closer look at the foreign monitor, "It's.. some kind of control room." She gasped when the panel lit up and three pods rose from the floor, each holding someone in them. An alien teenage girl with white hair, a red haired alien man with a moustache, and a teenage boy with auburn hair who looked completely human.

"Are these guys... dead?" The discomfort in Hunks voice was fairly obvious.

Suddenly, one of the capsules opened and the girl stumbled out, falling into Lance's grasp.

"Father!"

Lance blushed as the woman looked up at him with her big blue eyes, magenta crescents decorated her upper cheekbones and a gold crown wrapped around her forehead.

"Hello..." The Cuban gave his best attempt at a _Flynn Rider_ smolder.

"Who are you? Where am I?"

"I'm Lance...and you're right here in my arms."

The alien noticed something strange about this _Lance_ , "Your ears..." His were rounded unlike her own which were pointed like an elf.

"Yeah?" Lance self consciously tugged on his lower lobe.

"They're hideous, what's wrong with them?"

"Nothing's wrong with them! They heard exactly what you said about them!" The teen helped as the woman snagged him by the ear and pinned his arm behind his back, Keith stifled a chuckle.

"Who are you? Where is King Alfor? What are you doing in my castle?"

Lance winced in pain, "A giant blue lion brought us here! That's all we know!"

"How do you have the Blue Lion? What happened to its paladin? What are you all doing here? Unless... How long has it been?" She glanced at the computer in the middle of the room, releasing her grip on Lance, who sighed in relief.

Shiro took a step towards the dark skinned girl, "We don't know what you're talking about. Why don't you tell us who you are? Maybe we can help."

"I am Princess Allura of Planet Altea, I've got to find out where we are and how long we've been asleep." She replied as she made her way to the computer. Allura placed both of her hands on its panel which lit up when she did so.

Pidge, pushing her glasses higher up on her nose, studied the screen, "Okay, that's how that works."

That's when he second pod opened and out came the tall ginger haired man, who was quite startled when he saw a group of humans in the castle.

"Enemy combatants! I'll save you, Princess!" He stumbled and nearly fell when attempting to run to her side, "Quiznak! You're lucky I have a case of the old _sleep chamber knees_. Otherwise, It'd be lights out for you!"

Lance let out a conceited scoff, "Surrre, blame the creepy sleeping pod, we all know you're extremely intimidated by me"

"Sure Lance, nobody in this room could possibly knock you out.." Kieth stated sarcastically, Lance glared at him.

Allura gasped, "It can't be..."

"What is it?"

" Coran, we've been asleep for 10,000 years!"

Coran's eyes widened, "Quiznak, what happened?"

Allura sank down to her knees in shock, "Planet Altea and all of the planets in our solar system have been destroyed...Coran, Father is gone. Our entire civilization... Zarkon." Tears floods the princess's eyes.

The name got Shiro's attention, "Zarkon?"

"He was the King of the Galra, a vile creature and enemy to all free people."

Memories began to flood back to the 25 year old, "I remember now... I was his prisoner."

Allura jumped to her feet, "He's still alive? Impossible!"

"I can't explain it, but it's true. He's searching for a super weapon called Voltron."

"He's searching for it because he knows it's the only thing that can defeat him, and that's exactly why we must find it before he does.

"Hey Allura, is this another friend of yours?" Pidge called from the other side of the room, she'd been studying the person in the third pod.

The princess moved toward the chamber and looked the the specimen over, "I don't recognize this being, he appears to be human. Coran, how about you?"

"I don't recall working with any humans 10,000 years ago..."

"Should we let him out of there?" Hunk quizzed, stepping closer and narrowing his eyes.

The big teen jumped back as soon as the pod opened, causing the boy inside to fall out on his hands and knees.

"Hunk! Why didn't you catch him?" Kieth and Lance bent down to help the stranger up.

"Sorry, I'm just...really jumpy right now. I mean come on we're on an alien planet for gods sake!"

Allura approached held up her hand to silence him, "Shh, he's waking up"

The auburn haired teen stirred in Lance and Keith's arms, he'd been wearing a white long sleeve shirt and white pants.

"Geez what happened to him? He's really having a hard time adjusting..." Shiro was concerned. The stranger's eyes then flashed open and flung Lance and Keith away from him, both cashing violently onto their backs. The teen then jumped into the air, landing behind Shiro and put him in a headlock, his free hand igniting into flames.

"Where the hell am I!?"

"Okay new guy is definitely not human! And he's going to kill us!" Hunk whimpered from behind Pidge.

"You're in the Castle of Lions, which is possibly galaxies away from where you're from!" Coran replied to the stranger's plea.

"NO! I need to get back!" He let Shiro fall to the floor, who gasped as he finally got air into his lungs.

"Ugh, just like the man said...mnnn...you're probably light years away from your home." Lance strained, pulling himself off the floor, Allura helped him.

"No, you don't understand, the blue lion is in danger! I need to get back to earth so I can protect it!"

"Wait, so are you human or not?" Hunk was very confused.

"That doesn't matter, I need to get back to earth before Zarkon sends another fleet to retrieve the blue lion."

"Uh news flash bud, we already have the blue lion" Keith spoke up, Pidge was helping him stand.

"What? But my source said that the Paladins were going to retrieve..." The teen's voice trailed off as he glanced around at the adolescents before him. "Oh no...nononono, are you serious!? I have to rely on a bunch of kids to save the Galaxy?"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean? Aren't you like the same age as us?" Lance argued, Pidge piped in, "And Shiro's like 25, so you'd be relying on four teens and an adult, plus two aliens."

The stranger tapped his chin with his index finger, "Well I guess I'll have to work with what I've got..."

"I'm pleased that you are also protecting Voltron, but we didn't get your name quite yet." Allura stepped up to the boy.

"My name is Fel- **AHH**!" He was stuck unconscious by Shiro's metal fist and fell limply to the ground.

"SHIRO! What are you doing?!" The team rushed over to the tall man who loomed over his victim.

"That guy almost crushed my trachea into pieces!"

"Yeah, but he's on our side!" Coran corrected him, the abductee peered down at the unmoving auburn haired teen.

"I don't trust him..."

* * *

 **So...I just got into the Voltron fandom, and let me just say, I LOVE IT! I can't wait for season two! But anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter, read and review!**


	3. Chapter 2: Collecting the Lions

**Chapter 2: Collecting the lions**

 **Castle of the Lions:**

The new human stranger groaned as he came to, he opened his eyes to Lance and Hunk carrying him to a contol room, "You two can let me go now, I'm fine.."

Both teens blinked and stared at the boy in shock, "Whoah we literally just picked you up off the floor! How did you recover so fast?" Lance quizzed.

"I have the ability to rapidly heal my injuries, should they be inflicted."

"Interesting..." Coran commented in awe, poking and prodding at the specimen in front of him.

"What shall we call you? I believe you were starting to introduce yourself before you were...promptly interrupted." Allura stated as she glanced over to Shiro.

"Felix."

"Well Felix, it sure is nice to meet you, but can you explain how you ended up in my castle? I don't recall my father working with any humans..."

Felix sighed, "A couple years ago I was just a normal kid trying to get through life, until one day when I woke up with these...powers. I was scared when it happened, my hands freezing everything they touched, I could take on any appearance of the people I knew...I tried to show my parents the many things that I could do to see if they could help me..." The auburn haired teen paused and looked down.

"What happened?" Pidge asked with concern.

"They...kicked me out, called me a freak and said they'd call the authorities if I didn't leave. So I did and I eventually found myself in the desert where I first heard the voice of my source in my head. I thought it was because I was I dehydrated that I was hearing the voice, but it led me right to where the blue Lion was; it told me I had to keep it away from the Galra beast that was sent to find it. It arrived moments later, I fought, but to no avail. I almost died trying to fight that thing, but then just as I was about to pass out something saved me...it destroyed the beast I don't know who it was but I'm glad they showed up when they did."

Lance furrowed his brows, "So wait, you ran off to the desert and some random voice told you to guard the Lion? I kinda find that hard to believe..."

"Lance you're literally standing in an alien ship with two aliens and a human with supernatural powers. I find it pretty weird that Felix's backstory is what you're finding unbelievable." Pidge shot at the Cuban with a raised brow, a small group of Altean mice rushed into the room and climbed up to Allura's shoulder. "Make that two aliens and some alien mice..."

Felix's eyes suddenly widened and he placed a hand to his temple, "Nevermind that, Zarkon is sending a fleet of ships to capture the blue lion!"

"How do you know?" Allura quizzed in a worried tone.

"My source just alerted me."

Suddenly an alarm started up in the castle, the princess gasped, "A Galra ship has set a tracker on the castle!"

Coran rushed to the control panel and pulled up a screen, he gasped when he saw dozens of Galra ships heading towards a planet.

"Hmm...I think your source might be wrong, they're heard for a planet called Arus...hang on, we're Arus!"

"How much time do we have until they get here?" Spoke Shiro.

"Let's see...carry the two...I'd say a couple days! That gives us enough time to get the other lions."

"That's comforting and all, but how are we going to find the other lions?" Keith's tone was rough but curious.

"King Alfor connected Allura's life force to the lions, only she can locate their whereabouts." The ginger Altean responded, the Princess stepped into the center of the room and a large holographic map extended around the group. The humans gaped in amazement, Pidge looked at the map intensely.

"These are coordinates! The Black lion seems to be in the same place as the Blue lion..."

Coran was impressed, "Look at those primitive synapses firing away in your little brain cage!"

"Very observant, that's because the Black lion is in the castle." Allura replied, "To keep Voltron out of Zarkon's hands, my father locked it away. It can only be freed if the other four lions are present."

"Interesting..."

She continued, "As you have found, the lions choose their pilots; It's a mystical bond that can't be forced. The quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in their lions, they form something greater than science can explain. The Black lion is the head of Voltron, it takes a born leader whose men will fearlessly follow him into battle. That's why Shiro, you will pilot this lion."

A hologram of the black lion soared across the room to where Shiro stood, Allura went on, "The Green lion has an inquizative personality and requires a pilot of intellect and daring. Pidge, you will pilot the green lion. The Blue-"

"Let me guess it takes the most handsome/best pilot of the bunch?" Lance interrupted with a self indulged smirk.

The princess rolled her eyes, "The yellow lion is kind and caring. Its pilot is one who puts others needs before his own. His heart must be mighty, as the leg of Voltron you will hold the team up." The yellow lion hologram moved over to Hunk, he eyed it inquisitively.

"Finally, the red lion is tempremental and the most difficult to master. It is faster and more agile than the others, but also more unstable. The pilot relies more on instinct than skill, Keith you will pilot this lion."

Lance scoffed, "This guy? Pa-lease!"

"Unfortunately I'm unable to track the Red lion's location, there must be something wrong with the castle. Although it has been 10,000 years..."

"Not to worry Princess! I'll have it fixed in no time! They don't call me the Coranic for nothing after all..." Coran's last sentence fell on deaf ears. "It's because Coranic sounds like mechanic...not exactly the same, but similar!"

The lion holograms roared and joined together in the center of the room, beginning to form the being known as Voltron. "When all of the lions have been collected you will form Voltron and put an end to Zarkon's tyranny!"

"Whoa..." Hunk stated in shock, and then added, "Wait, what about Felix? Doesn't he get a lion? I mean he was told to protect the lions after all."

"There are only five lions..."

Lance chuckled, "Yeah Hunk, that wouldn't make any sense. Although if there was a sixth lion, he could form Voltron's-"

"LANCE!" The whole group yelled.

"We don't have much time, Pidge you and I will get the green lion, Lance, you and Hunk get the yellow one." Shiro ordered.

"I'll get you a pod with the coordinates of the green lion, The other two will take the blue lion." Coran added, the group nodded and hurried to their vessels. After launching into space, Coran came on the intercom, "We can only keep the wormholes oper for two of your earth hours, so you'll have to be quick. The good news is, both planets are relatively peaceful. So if you get stuck they'll be great places to spend the rest of your lives! Good luck!"

The pilots all began protesting in fear, but the wormholes opened and pulled them through.

Keith stared out the window of the castle, Felix stood beside him.

"You're worried..."

The shorter boy jumped, "W-what?"

The mysterious teen nodded toward the window, "You're worried about your friends, wondering if they'll make it back in time, or at all."

"I-I'm not worried, just concerned... I mean they're going to alien planets for god's sake! It's not exactly guarenteed that those planets are as friendly as Coran says they are."

"Actually, Keith they are, we've been to both planets many times." Allura called from her station.

"Okay...Whatever, why do you care about how I feel anyway?"

Felix placed a hand on Keith's shoulder, "It's your emotions. They're very strong, I could feel them."

The dark haired boy raised a brow, "Of course..."

"Your physiology never ceases to amaze me, Felix. Humans are typically powerless beings, but you...you seem to negate their genetic coding!" Gushed Coran.

Keith glanced at the taller teen who'd began to look out the window, "Hey do you have any idea how you gained your abilities?"

"Nope...I'm just as clueless as you are."

"Oh..."

Minutes later the green lion came into view, after landing in the bay Pidge and Shiro walked into the control room.

"The green lion has been found and secured." Pidge stated smugly.

"Great work paladins, how was your trip?"

"Not bad at all, we got a boat ride from a weird sloth...creature thing."

The castle alarm sounded again, Coran pulled up the screen, "The Galra ships are right outside of Arus! They're about to enter orbit!"

"I thought you said we had a couple days before they got here!"

"Forget that, the other two still aren't back yet!" Allura went back to the intercoms, "Paladins please hurry I can't keep the wormhole open for much longer!"

"We made it through, princess we're on our way back." Lance replied, everyone sighed in relief, Allura closed the wormhole.

Soon the blue and yellow lions came into view and made their ways into the castle. Hunk and Lance joined the group.

"That was terrible, we almost didn't make it because we were being shot at! I almost threw up I felt like Hunk!"

"Hey, I am Hunk imagine how I felt!"

"Enough guys, we need to find out how we're going to retrieve the red lion." Shiro interjected.

"Do we know where it is?" Pidge asked.

"I've just repaired the system so Allura should be able to locate it." Coran responded.

"I found it, it's on the Galra ship that's currently orbiting Arus." Spoke the princess.

"Wait they're here already?"

"Yes...well finger counting- it's more of an art than a science..."

A second screen suddenly flashed in front of the group, an alien with purple skin and beady yellow eyes materialized on it.

"Princess Allura, this is Commander Sendak of the Galra empire. I come on behalf of Zarkon, the lord of the known universe. I've come to confiscate your lions, turn them over to us or we will destroy your planet!" The transmission ended abruptly after that, the group looked around in fear.

"Okay let's not panic..." Shiro started, Hunk grabbed him by the the shoulders, "Don't panic? That scary purple alien thing is gonna destroy us! Not only that, we only have four lions!"

"Technically only three working lions." Pidge corrected.

"Yes, see, thank you, Pidge. Three lions and a castle that's like 10,000 years old."

"Actually it's 10,600 years old..."

"Thanks Coran that's why this is a perfect time to panic!" The big teen complained.

"We do have a particle barrier we can activate." Allura pulled the option onto the screen.

Lance opened his mouth to say something, Felix stopped him, "I know what you're going to say, and trust me this is not the time for that."

"That may work but the particle barrier might not be able to withstand Sendak's ion cannon for that long. The Galra's technology has to have evolved since the last time we dealt with them." Warned the ginger Altean.

"Can we just panic?"

"No we need to come up with a plan, and fast." Shiro dictated.

"Look we tried to get the lions and we failed, we gave it the college try. Let's just leave!"

"I'm with hunk on this one let's just open another wormhole and go through it, then they can't follow us." Lance chimed in.

"We can't just abandon Arus, Zarkon will just keep destroying planets and taking more prisoners until he gets what he wants!" The shortest member piped up.

"Besides, Sendak could destroy the planet and then come after us anyway, staying is the only option we have." Stated Keith.

"Here's an option: shut your quiznack!"

"I don't think you're using that word correctly..." Felix blurted out from the far side of the room.

"What do you know? Come to think of it, if you have all these magical powers, why can't you just fly up to that ship and get the final lion yourself?"

"Well for one, the red lion would have to choose me to be its paladin, and I don't fit the requirements to pilot it."

Keith cut in again, "Regardless we're staying!"

"Leaving!"

"Staying!"

"Enough! Allura, these are your lions and you've dealt with these guys before, what's our best course of action?" Shiro inquired.

"I don't know..." Allura said with a saddened expression.

"Perhaps your father can help." Coran spoke up.

"Father?"

The tall Altean led the group to a room in the far side of the castle, "What is this place?" Asked Allura.

"Your father knew there was a chance he might never see you again so he stored his memories on this computer."

Coran pressed a button on a panel and a hologram of King Alfor appeared in front of them.

"Father! It so good to see you again!" The Princess sprinted to the hologram with a smile.

"Allura, my only child, how I've missed your sweet face."

"Father, the Galra are set to attack, I don't know what to do...I need your help."

"I'd give anything to take this burden from you..."

The princess sighed, "I don't know if we should leave to preserve what we have or fight and risk everything. I know what you would do."

"I scattered the lions to keep them out of Zarkon's hands. You urged me to keep them and fight, but for the greater good of protecting the universe I hid them."

"I think I understand..."

"No daughter you were right, I made terrible mistake that cost the lives of many. You must be willing to sacrifice everything to assemble the lions and correct my mistake. Forming Voltron is the only way to defeat Zarkon."

Allura nodded and turned off the hologram, she then turned to the group, "Come with me."

She led them to another room that contained five armor suits, each match in the color of their respective lions. (Red, blue, green, yellow, and black)

"You five Paladins and Felix were sent here for a reason, the lions were meant to be piloted by you and only you. Voltron is the universe's only hope, we are the universe's only hope."

"We're with you, Princess." Shiro stood beside Allura, she gestured to the suits, "These are your suits of armor, Felix I'm afraid we don't have one for you."

"That alright, I don't think- hang on..." He paused and then walked to the corner of the room. After pressing a button on the wall, a unit rose from the floor, in it contained a sixth suit similar to the others. It's color was much like the black uniform, but the colors were inverted, making the Voltron insignia on the front white. "I guess you were wrong princess..."

"What? But that's impossible, there was never a sixth paladin. Hang on a tick..." Allura inspected the unit, "This armor...it's brand new, and so is this containment unit. How did you know this was here?"

"My source told me..."

The two Alteans exchanged looks, "We'll talk about this another time...right now I need you to suit up and to supply you with your weapons."

The paladins took the next few minutes to put on their gear, afterwords they met back with Allura and Coran in the suiting room.

The princess placed her hand on a rectangular box and it opened, inside were four V-shape instruments with a single handle in the middle. Each matched each paladin's suits.

"The bayard is the traditional weapon of a paladin, Shiro, I'm afraid your bayard was lost with its paladin."

"I'll make do..." He raised his metal fist, Coran and Allura eyed Felix from across the room.

"What? Oh, you think I have one...my source says that I don't have one and I wouldn't need one anyway."

The other paladin's checked out their weapons. Keith got a sword, Lance a laser sniper, Hunk a Laser cannon, and Pidge got a small electrified blade that was used to promptly shock Lance in return to a snide remark he made about it.

"So how are we going to find the red lion? That ship is huge, we'd get caught before we get to it." Keith folded his arms.

"Well it's not a matter of ' _we_ ' it's really a matter of you." Pidge responded.

"Yeah once you get inside you'll be able to feel its presence and like, track it down." Hunk contributed.

Allura gazed at the new red paladin, "Keith remember, the red lion is extremely tempremental, you'll have to earn its respect."

"Okay here's the plan..." Shiro began, "The Galra know about the blue and yellow lions, but they don't know about the green one. Hunk and Lance, you two will pretend to turn in your lions as a decoy. Sendak will be distracted so, that's when Pidge, Hunk, and I will sneak onto the ship with the green lion. Keith and I will get the red lion while Pidge covers the exit. Lance, Hunk find a way to take out the ion cannon."

"What about Felix?" Coran tilted his head.

"He'll stay down here and help protect the castle in case something goes wrong. That is, if that's what he wants to do..."

Felix nodded, "Good luck to you all."

The paladins then broke into their lions and left into space, those left in the castle watched intently. Allura looked over at the white paladin, "Felix?"

"Hmm?"

"This source...what does their voice sound like?"

"It's rough and has a deep tone like a man." Felix explained.

"Do you think he's the same being that saved you from that Galra monster?" Coran chimed in.

"I don't know...whoever saved me, I never got a good look at them. I guess I'll never know who it is..."

The boy sighed and stared out the window, the princess spoke up again, "That reminds me we need to test the particle barrier before the others get back with the lions." She pulled the option onto the screens in front of her, "Particle barrier up!"

A thin field of energy surrounded the castle, it flickered and then dissapated.

"Umm...was that supposed to happen?" The male Altean inquired, he opened a small compartment under his control panel. "Here's the problem, the barrier crystals are all out of alignment."

"We have to fix it immediately, the particle barrier is our only shield! Without it, the castle will be vulnerable to any and every attack!"

"We're all too big to fit through that small space, what do we do then?" Coran stared at the small opening.

The mice on Allura's shoulder squeaked and ran down her arm into the control unit and began moving the crystals back into place.

"The mice! They're fixing the crystals!" The princess observed the Altean rodents in awe.

"How do they know how to do this?"

"I can hear them talking to me, our minds are connected. They must've been in my pod with me for all those years."

The mice put the final crystal into place and squeaked in victory, they then returned to their spot on Allura's shoulder.

"Thank you friends!"

Coran pressed his fingers to us temples and grunted in effort to mentally connect with the rodents. Allura glanced over at him, "Coran what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to get them to make me a sandwich."

"Cut it out, you're frightening them!"

"As you wish, Princess.." The ginger Altean sighed.

Felix looked at the small animals, "Hmm...let me try something..."

"What are you going to do?"

"You'll see..." The boy's eyes lit up as he gazed at the mice, they simultaneously looked over at him and then promptly ran out of the room.

"Where are they going? And what did you do, or better yet, tell them to do?" Allura turned to Felix with concern.

"I told them to bring us some food. After all, you two have been in those pods for thousands of years, and me...at least one year."

Moments later, the mice returned with trays of alien food on their backs, the Alteans observed in amazement. "How the quiznack did you do that?"

"One word: telepathy." The brown haired teen picked up the trays and handed one to each alien. Coran shrugged and shoveled the green goo into his mouth, Allura eyed the food and then set it down.

"What's the matter, not hungry?"

"I'll eat later, right now we need to get Voltron formed and destroy that ship."

"Right..." Felix placed his tray next to the other one.

Just then, the lions came into view, Shiro's voice came onto the intercom, "Princess, we've retrieved the red lion, we also saved some prisoners."

"Great work, Paladins, we'll meet you when you land."

Coran and Felix made their way to the landing pad, once they got there they saw Shiro and Pidge helping the aliens they rescued out of the green lion.

"They're okay, but they don't seem to be doing so well..." Shiro told them.

"Nothing a couple days in the healing pods can't fix. Come along, we'll help you all to them." The ginger Altean chirped as he led them to the infirmary.

"Paladins!" Allura's voice sounded on their coms, "We need the Black lion immediately, the Galra are almost here!"

"We got it Princess, but how are we supposed to get it again?" Hunk quizzed, at that moment the four lions behind the group roared and leapt to a larger platform with a large door in front of it. The paladins followed and watched as the mechanical beasts crowded around it. Their eyes lit up with a bright and golden glow, the lions roared once more, this time, activating the large gate. It opened loudly and it slowly but surely began to reveal the final lion. Shiro's eyes widened as the magnificent black lion appeared before him moments later.

"Whoa..."

The lion was significantly larger than the others and boar red wing-like appendages on its backside. The oldest of the Paladins turned to the rest of the group, "Team Voltron, let's go save Arus!"

The group ran to their lions and then launched, Felix levitated and flew after them. Lance's jaw dropped as the super powered teen passed his lion, "What? You can actually fly, no fair!"

"What do you mean, you're flying right now?."

"No, my lion is flying, that's not the same!"

The princess' voice filled the paladins ears once more, "Focus paladins, they have just entered the atmosphere, you need to form Voltron and take out that ship!

Seconds later, the lions were being shot at by Galra fighter ships, "How are we supposed to do that? We're being shot at, and I don't see a 'combine into giant robot' button on my dashboard." Hunk called out.

"This is insane! Can't they just ceas fire for one second so we can figure this out?!" Cried Pidge.

Felix grabbed a ship by the wing and chucked it away from the castle, the green lion tossed another ship into it, both crashed together and exploded. The castle activated the particle barrier just as an ion cannon was fired at it. The beam of energy hit the shield with great force and then dissapated.

"Paladins, our shield can't take many more hits like that, our energy levels are decreasing!" The princess pleaded.

"Maybe if we take off in formation, we'll just combine." Shiro directed, "Let's give it a try"

"You guys might want to hurry they're about to blast at the castle again with the ion cannon!" Felix warned, he watched as the lions ran and then launched into the sky in perfect formation. Sadly, nothing happened, the teen sent out a blast of fire and ice that destroyed a group of ships that surrounded him. Then he noticed the large Galra ship had unleashed a second ray from the ion cannon at the castle. Felix raced to fly in front of the beam, it hit him head on and smashed him against the barrier. The barrier cracked and ultimately broke with the final wave of energy, the auburn haired teen groaned and dropped to the bridge in front of the castle.

"We've lost the barrier, and Felix is down!" Coran's voice yelled, but unfortunately, the Paladins had currently been occupied. Their lions were caught in a tractor beam from the Galra ship, and were being drawn in.

Shiro gritted his teeth and reached out to his team, "No, we can do this guys! We have to believe in ourselves, the universe is relying on us! We will win if we work together!"

"Yeah!"

The lions growled and broke free of the beam, they then began to change shape and come together. The Black lion became a torso and head, the red and green formed arms, making the yellow and Blue lions the legs of the being known as Voltron.

The robot crashed down on the ship with a heavy thud, "Whoah..."

"We did it!" Pidge cheered, "I'm a leg!" Yelled Hunk.

"Let's destroy this ship for once and for all!" Called Shiro, the team let out a battle cry and Voltron put a fist through the ship and blasted a laser into it. The mighty robot moved to the ion cannon and repeated the action. The weapon exploded in a ball of fire, Voltron landed gracefully on the ground below.

Felix moaned and pulled himself off the ground and saw the smoking vessel sinking in the sky. He looked down at himself and noticed his body was glowing with violet light, then the voice of his source filled his ears.

" _You've absorbed some of the energy from the blast, focus, and direct it back at the ship!"_

Felix once again, leapt into the air and flew towards the battered ship.

"That takes care of their weapons and engines, now what?" Asked Keith, the Paladins observed the aircraft slowly descending.

"I've got this one!" Called Felix as he zipped into the sky, he paused as soon as he was level with the Galra ship.

The teen closed his eyes and then, with a yell, he unleashed a large beam of plasma at the ship. The whole thing blew apart, sending large pieces crashing into the ground.

Voltron separated into the lions as Felix lowered himself from the sky, he landed softly on the blue lion.

"Let's head back in, team, good work." Shiro complimented.

Allura greeted them after they landed, "You did it!"

Keith smiled, "Hell yeah we did!"

"But how did we form Voltron?" The leader asked.

"We were just screaming the whole time, maybe that did it?"

Shiro faced Pidge, "We're not going to stop looking for your brother and father, we'll find them, I promise."

The green paladin smiled, "Thanks..."

The princess sighed and looked out the window, "Zarkon is still out there, and we're not going to quit fighting until his rule ends!"

"Wait what? How, we could hardly handle Sendak!" Hunk groaned.

"And that was just one fleet, imagine taking on a whole swarm of fleets." Coran added with a twirl of his mustache.

"That's why you'll have to train hard if you want to be the defenders of the universe."

Shiro smiled, "Defenders of the universe...that's got a nice ring to it."

Hunk's stomach growled, "So...do you guys have any food?"

The group laughed, "Classic Hunk."

Later that night, the Paladins were all in the main living area talking about their previous victory.

"Remember when Hunk tried to form Voltron by ramming his lion into Keith, that was hilarious!" Lance laughed, Keith rolled his eyes.

"Hey, you've gotta test your ideas when you have them!"

Pidge chuckled and then looked over at Felix, "I don't know if you all saw this, but Felix is a freakin powerhouse! He threw a fighter ship halfway across the battlefield with his bare hands!"

"Yeah man, you also completely took out that giant Galra aircraft with that awesome laser." The blue paladin chimed in.

"Aren't you guys forgetting that Shiro got us to form Voltron and disable the ship?" Allura cut in.

"Yeah, but all we did was disable the weapons and the engines, Felix was the one who delivered the final blow." The red paladin corrected, giving Felix a friendly slug in the arm.

The remainder of the Paladins, excluding Shiro proceeded to praise the strange human. Hunk ruffled his hair and Lance and Pidge gave him hi-fives, Shiro crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah...great job. Glad to have you on the team." He faked a smile.

Hunk eased himself off of the couch with a yawn, "Welp, I'm off to bed that battle really took a lot out of me."

The others followed, Lance turned around to Alurra, "See ya tomorrow Alurra, or maybe I'll see you in my dreams..."

The princess groaned and frowned, then she too, along with Coran, retreated to their rooms. That left Shiro and Felix who'd stayed behind, the black paladin shot a look at the white paladin.

"What?"

"You don't have to pretend like you want me here..."

Shiro furrowed his brows, "What are you talking about?"

"When the others were talking about me, you tensed up and I could hear your heart rate increase. You're frustrated, you didn't like that they didn't acknowledge your contribution to the battle."

The older teen sighed, "Look, I might not fully trust you, but that doesn't mean I don't want you as a part of this team."

"Now why don't you trust me?" Felix crossed his arms and stepped closer to Shiro.

The black paladin didn't reply and averted his gaze, the shorter teen narrowed his eyes and read his mind.

"You think I'm working with the Galra?"

Shiro's eyes widened, "How'd you...? Well how else would you have got into the castle?"

"I don't know, Shiro, I literally passed out on earth and woke up here!"

"Fine forget it, I'll believe your story for now. But just know this, I'm the leader of Voltron, not you...You may have all those powers, but you still have to listen to me if you want to be a part of this team." And with that Shiro left, Felix glared after him.

"Sure thing, Shiro..."

 **Sorry that this chapter took so long to post! I've been really busy with my personal life and junk, but I'm back now! Read and review! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


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